Vonn: 'I will work as hard as humanly possible' to ski at '14 Olympics

Minnesota native and 2010 Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn, recovering from serious a knee injury suffered in a harrowing fall at the world championships in Austria, said Wednesday that she will do all she can to ski for the United States at next year's Winter Games.

"I can assure you that I will work as hard as humanly possible to be ready to represent my country next year in Sochi," the Russian host city for the 2014 Olympics, Vonn said in a statement, her first public comments since her injury.

Vonn, 28, tore two ligaments in her right knee and broke a bone in her lower leg in her crash Tuesday during her super-G run.

She added that she will return to her base of operations in Vail, Colo., "as soon as I can to have the necessary surgeries."

U.S. Ski Team Dr. William Sterett was with the four-time overall World Cup champion on the snow after the crash, then at a Schladming hospital where she brought helicopter.

"I will be doing surgery on her knee early next week," Sterett told the Associated Press. Vonn said that "the outpouring of support" from her fans has "really helped me stay positive."

Vonn tore her anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in her right knee. The broken bone was described as a lateral tibial plateau fracture.

Vonn landed off a jump in the super-G. That's when her right leg gave way and she spun down face first, ending up on her back as she smashed through a gate.

Vonn ranks among Minnesota's most accomplished athletes, let alone skiers. She grew up in the Twin Cities as Lindsey Kildow and got her start on the slopes of Buck Hill in Burnsville.